Paris in winter: 'Tis the season for sparkling lights, puffy jackets and hot spiced wine

 

Paris 2024 Olympics fans might recognize the Point Alexandre III bridge, with its views of the Eiffel Tower, as the backdrop for the open-water swimming and cycling events.

Fast forward to November of this year. A light snow is falling, and I'm slipping and sliding across the same bridge, the view of the Eiffel Tower cut off at half-mast by the fog.

Ahead is the Grand Palais, the architectural masterpiece built during the 1900 Universal Exhibition, used for fencing and Taekwondo during the Olympics, now the site of a giant glass-roofed skating rink.

Nearby, dozens of holiday lights decorate the Champs-Élysées. Wood fires warm the first customers lining up for cups of mulled wine and baguettes slathered with melted cheese at the Tuileries Christmas Market near the Louvre. 

This is Paris in winter, a time to embrace short days and chilly evenings. Bundle up. Snag a bag of roasted chestnuts from a sidewalk vendor. People-watch over coffee at a traditional cafe with small tables and bistro chairs, or try one of the newer ones competing with each other for the best flat whites or lattes.

I was here during Thanksgiving week. I can't say there were no crowds. People were everywhere - at the museums, department stores and markets, but they were mostly French and European rather than foreign tourists.  

Follow their lead, I found, and you will have a visit to remember.

Start by scoring an off-season rate on a small hotel in a neighborhood that might be busy during tourist season, but quieter in winter.

There are many, but my favorite is the Hotel Du Levant, a century-old Latin Quarter hotel on the pedestrian-only Rue de le Harpe, a few steps away from Notre Dame and the Seine river. This area swarms with tourists most of the time, but it was strangely quiet this time of year.

Hotel Du Levant

The Du Levant has been in the same family for five-generations, and only recently raised its price on a "simple single" to 130 euros, up from 115 including a buffet breakfast.

For years, I ignored a small creperie next door, judging it to touristy. Then one night, too tired to go far, I slid into a cozy booth, ordered a buckwheat crepe filled with veggies, cheese, ham and topped with an egg for 12 euro.  I went back twice.

Neighborhood creperie

Next, adopt what seems like the official cold-weather uniform: Puffy coat, big scarf, hat, gloves and comfortable walking shoes. Dressed like this, you will be prepared to walk everywhere, but give yourself permission to take lots of indoor breaks.

A few ideas:

--Drop into a church that is not Notre Dame. The art is always amazing and the doors always open. One of my favorites is the 380-year-old Saint-Sulpice with its recently restored Chapelle de la Vierge (Chapel of the Virgin). 

Saint-Sulpice

An 18-month restoration uncovered François Lemoyne's magnificent 18th-century fresco "The Assumption of the Virgin," revealing its vibrant colors and baroque details that had been obscured for centuries. On the walk back to my hotel, I made new a new discovery. The doors were open at Saint Volodymyr’s Cathedral,  an iconic Ukrainian Orthodox church in the Latin Quarter. Its striking yellow façade and intricate religious icons attract visitors from all faiths.

--Instead of window shopping in the cold, pop into the little one-of-a-kind shops and art galleries that line back streets in neighborhoods such as Latin Quarter and Marais. On the tiny Rue de Bievre, I found Messy Nessy's "The Cabinet" after hearing a podcast interview with the American owner who bottles and sells water from the Seine River. Next door to her is craftsman who teaches students how to restore antique travel trunks, and next door to him, a sculpture gallery where passersby can see artists working on new creations.

Seine water for sale at The Cabinet

Sculptor at work 

--Stop for a coffee and people-watching in a glassed-in cafe terrace. The French government banned outdoor heaters a few years ago, but cafes found a work-around by creating covered terraces that apparently qualify as indoor spaces and can be heated.  

Coffee with a view

--Join the locals at a Christmas Market for Raclette, melted cheese and ham scraped onto a baguette, washed down with a mug of vin choud.  The Christmas markets pop up in various locations throughout the city. Popular is the big market at Tuileries, with a ferris wheel and rides for kids, and new market this year at the Parc de la Villette with seating around little wood-burning fire pits.

Tuileries Christmas market 

Raclette vendor slices melting  cheese

--Walk into just about any museum without advance tickets. Be prepared to stand in line until those with reservations pass through, but the wait will be short. The afternoon I decided to visit Notre Dame, now open and renovated after the 2019 fire, I expected a long wait since I had not made reservations.  Instead, I was inside in under 10 minutes. 

Early evening at Notre Dame 

The cathedral’s bright, cream-colored limestone walls look brand new, cleaned of dust from the fire and grime that had accumulated for centuries. Visitors can see it much as it would have appeared shortly after its last restoration nearly 200 years ago. The choir and side chapels were carefully cleaned, revealing vibrant reds, golds and blues. 

Restored stained glass and limestone walls

A Vespers service inside Notre Dame

Tip: Arrange to be inside around 5:30 for Vespers when the priest conducts a prayer service at the new ultra-modern alter.

When it comes to food, winter visitors should be prepared to replace the idea of a summer picnic with a visit to a cozy wine bar or a sidewalk stall where vendors cook huge skillets of potatoes and cheese, and serve soup from copper pots. Parisians don't usually walk and eat at the same time, but winter seems to be an exception.  

There's nothing more special than having a Parisian friend with whom to share a meal. I met up with my longtime friend, Michele Rumeau, in whose B&B I used to stay, for lunch at 5eCru, a tiny wine bar tucked into a storefront that I discovered a few years ago. I made a reservation on Instagram, and Beatrice, the manager, greeted me like an old friend when I walked in.

Beatrice at 5eCru

Walls of wine bottles surround a half-dozen or so wooden tables. When I asked about a dish of described on a chalkboard as endive au gratin, a woman sitting next to us explained that the dish is the ultimate winter comfort food.

"It's something everyone remembers their grandmother making," she said. "Children hate it, but it reminds me of home."

I ordered a glass of the just-released Beaujolais nouveau along with the endive snuggled in a casserole of melted cheese and ham. My friend ordered deer. We chatted with Beatrice, and finished with creme brûlée for dessert before heading off on a windy walk to the Institut du Monde Arabe to see exhibits on Cleopatra and Gaza. 

Just another perfect winter day in Paris.